Genestealer equipment

Im getting some Stealers and am wondering what I should give them the carapace, rending claws, feeder tendrils or nothing at all? Im not really sticking to an army list but working up from Gaunts and Hormagaunts to Genestealers to a Tyrant then a Carnifex then slowly expand like that.

Help my dragon grow! pfft dont bother anymore he died since he didnt get enough clicks >:(

Rending they come with them, scything, is a harder choice, because it can work fine so it's more of a matter of tastes.

IMHO, caparace is not really worth it anymore if you use gaunts to give stealers cover.

Feeder tendrils are very very good, although they can be provided by a nearby squad. i.e. if you have a lictor nearby or a broodlord, then you don't need to give them tendrils, since they benefit from being close. Otherwise, just pick it on half of the squads and keep them close, so that the ones without it benefit from the ones with it (and you save some points).

at first

use them as is at first.
see how that goes then maybe add some extras later.
even raw they kick @ss
used 5 squads of 6 in a tiny game vs eldar the other day... shame that poor b@stard never knew what hit him.
even his harlies fell to stealer mass attack.
try gaunt wrapping with your stealers to when out of cover... trust me though there is a lot more cover saves out there than before.

if u are worried about modeling...well i have always liked s. tallons
depends if u plat WASIWIGy (we dont really here in South Africa- especially casual games) but maybe u are into competitions etc...

due to the fact that the most common weapon in the game is ap5. You absolutley need the improved armor save and it does wonders in the cc too.

Extended Carapace is never wasted. if you have 3*6 stealers and just one of those squads would be shot at by say a 10 man bolter squad you would actually save 4 out of those 6 stealers in that squad so you would spend 72 points on extended carapace to save 64 points of unupgraded stealers and then you still ahve the improved cc survivability to consider. if two of those squads would be shot at you would have 2 damaged units and 1 healthy unit make it into the cc as opposed to one single undamaged unit. count on them being shot at.

Extended Carapace is quite worth the points, as Process pointed out. Scuttlers has become a much more appealing option in 5th edition, you not only get the scout move if they deploy on the board, but you can also outflank with Scuttling Genestealers. I personally prefer to not take Scything talons, as I could spend the points used on Scything talons on more genestealers (number of attacks is comparable, and you get more attacks due to survivability as well as +1 attack per each model that charges.

After that, you don't really need any biomorphs. Implant attack isn't particularly valuable as you have to equip the entire brood identically and will rarely encounter squads full of multi-wound characters, and feeder-tendrils, as previously noted, can be found elsewhere. Flesh Hooks would be a good investment, allowing you to go first regardless of most situations,and I cannot currently recall the other biomorphs. Take Extended Carapace, consider Scuttlers, and if you really want them, Scything Talons.

My gaming group's new motto: That army you're using is overpowered because it hurts my guys, codex is broken and needs a rewrite.

In Games that i run stealers I try to keep their cost down as much as possible more often than not two squads of x8 with scuttlers and feeder tendrils are my biomorphs of choice, just have them flank march in and watch the chaos ensue!

Extended Carapace. Even with cover saves, it is necessary for surviving many of the combats stealers will engage in.

Feeder Tendrils on at least one of your squads. It is just as good as you imagine, and getting lined up with a Lictor is a nice idea that doesn't happen often enough (primarily because Lictors are too fragile.)

Scuttlers with scuttling gaunts in front is a good strategy, but ends up costing lots of points.

Extended Carapace. Even with cover saves, it is necessary for surviving many of the combats stealers will engage in.

Well, it depends (a lot) on your style of play. I used to think like that, and always picked Extended caparace, and in 4th it was really needed. In 5th you can give mobile cover to your genestealers with spinegaunts, which allows you to give your stealers a 4+ save that won't be denied by heavy bolters/gauss or even plasmas.

In combat, you're better served by a larger number of attacks at an I greater than that of your opponent. Denying the return attacks by killing your opponent is a better defense than trusting a 4+ save; particularly because the opponent will try to keep alive his miniatures with energy/power weapons by removing other casualties first.

I throw Carapace on my stealers it's not worth it to put them past 20 points though, the save against bolters and the survival increase in CC is well worth the points. I try to keep a lictor around (and a broodlord with feeders) to give them preferred enemy.